Take a breath, 2014 campaign season starts soon

The ink is barely dry on the results that decided the 2013 elections and, soon, Ohioans will be inundated with articles, blog posts, commercials and events centered around a key midterm election in the Buckeye State.

Not only will Gov. John Kasich face a strong challenge in 2014, but all of the key statewide offices will be up for re-election, as well. Then, you throw in all of the Ohio and U.S. House races and our local races, and ... well, you should learn to appreciate the relative quietness of the 2013 campaign season.

Make no mistake about it, a lot of money will be spent in Ohio next year, most of it by third-party organizations with designs on replacing some key officeholders and others intent on making sure the seats stay right where they are.

In state races, expect to hear a lot about the budget cuts pushed by the Kasich administration and, most recently, the move by some Republicans to push the Libertarian Party from the ballot next year. Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine's decision to push usage of facial recognition technology in the state already has become a campaign issue and likely will continue to be one. Treasurer Josh Mandel will get pushed hard as he works for re-election, as will Secretary of State Jon Husted and Auditor Dave Yost and Supreme Court Evelyn Lundberg Stratton. It's going to be a busy year for statewide officeholders and their challengers.

In the Legislature, whether your local legislator backed Kasich's moves could become a key lynchpin in the races that would have the most direct affect on you. Regardless, we can expect to see virtually every seat challenged and, since incumbents have money to spend, we'll have to see if money will win out in the end.

In the U.S. House races, expect to hear about about the recent government shutdown from Democrats and "Obamacare" from Republicans. In one Ohio race, at least five Democrats are rumored to be running against the incumbent Republican. In essence, we can hope they'll play nice, but we're better not to expect such behavior.

All this and more points to a busy, and potentially contentious, campaign season in 2014. Stay alert and question everything, Ohioans.

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Take a breath, 2014 campaign season starts soon

The ink is barely dry on the results that decided the 2013 elections and, soon, Ohioans will be inundated with articles, blog posts, commercials and events centered around a key midterm election in